Best yoga getaways: whether you want to take one class or totally immerse yourself, here are five great places to strike a pose - Venture Out

Shape, Feb, 2003 by Valerie Latona

I've never been interested in twisting my body into the human version of a pretzel ring. And I typically get bored after about 20 minutes of stretching, deep breathing and trying to balance my chi (and believe me, it could use some balancing). Give me a high-fidelity, calorie-burning Spinning or kickboxing class over yoga any day. Still, with everyone from Madonna to my next-door neighbor bonding with her mat--and experts claiming yoga does everything from reducing anxiety to preventing heart-related problems--I wondered if I was missing something. To find out, I immersed myself in a beginners' weekend at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in Lenox, Mass., the East Coast's om-central (two-night Kripalu Yoga for Beginners, from $267 per person for tuition; from $122-$392 for meals and lodging, double occupancy; 800-741-7353, kripalu.org).

Day 1 A luxury spa Kripalu is not. Housed in a nondescript dormlike facility overlooking 350 wooded acres, it seemed a bit isolated and quiet: No cellphones are allowed indoors (in fact, practically no noise at all is permitted in the building after 9:30 p.m.)--even breakfasts are silent, held in a dining "chapel." For the opening session, our class of 30 (ranging from age 20-70) sat cross-legged around a burning candle and shared our reasons for being at Kripalu. I was relieved when my fellow classmates confessed similar concerns/cynicisms about yoga. Afterward, we practiced simple relaxation poses: lying on our backs, stretching and deep breathing. Thankfully, no headstands yet.

Day 2 In the first three-hour class this morning, our instructor, Naresh Ron King, explained that "the goal of Kripalu yoga is to find your edge, where one side is comfort and the other, pain, If you push too hard, your body will resist and you'll lose the benefits--and could even hurt yourself." Known as "kinder, gentler yoga," Kripalu holds that you don't have to force your body to do anything. After learning 12 basic yoga postures in five hours of sessions (thanks to King and four roaming assistants), I actually started to enjoy yoga because I finally was doing it in a way that felt good for me.

Day 3 Although I grumbled about arising for a 6 a.m. class (the sun wasn't even up!), it was during this session that some of the key things King had been teaching us started making sense:

* Much of the experience of yoga is internal: By keeping my eyes closed, I was less distracted by what was going on around me (and less likely to compare my pose to the student's next to me). It also helped me to detect that edge between pain and comfort.

* My body felt flexible and relaxed: King explained that we could gain benefits by doing just 15 minutes of yoga twice a week and urged us not to impose time requirements on ourselves. "There's no cattle prod making you do anything," he says. "It's about being able to live more fully with who you are as a person."

* Ninety percent of yoga takes place of f the mat: Finding my 'edge' helped me tune in to how my body responds to other aspects of my life: knowing when I've exercised enough, listening to my body say it's full after two chocolate chip cookies (not three or four or ... ) and realizing when to tune out a busy world and just relax. As Kripalu President Jonathan Foust explains: "Kripalu yoga is less about learning how to stand on your head and more about how to stand on your own two feet."

Back home, my life hasn't changed dramatically. I didn't rush out and buy a sticky mat or sit contorted for hours in a corner of my apartment. In fact, I haven't done yoga once since I left Kripalu. But I have been breathing more deeply (particularly when I'm stressed), doing my post-Spinning stretching with more awareness of my body and becoming more conscious in general of how I move. For now, Madonna can do yoga to her heart's content. I'm happy just being the non-yogic version of me. And that, I learned, is what yoga, in its truest essence, is all about.

RELATED ARTICLE: (4) more yoga vacations

1. & 2. Canyon Ranch

Health Resorts in the Berkshires, Lenox, Mass., and in Tucson, Ariz.

These award-winning destination spas offer different yoga styles (as well as a wealth of other spa services, fitness activities and mind/body/behavioral offerings).

You can take a gentle Yoga Stretch or Beginner's Yoga class (one of six yoga classes offered in the daily schedule) to get limber, or go for the one-on-one Breath: Life's Elixir ($105; available in Lenox only), where a movement therapist teaches you to focus on your breathing -- something you can use in both yoga and anxious real-life moments. Also at Lenox, we loved the private yoga option with 30-year veteran Kathy Sprague ($95). She taught poses based on our ayurvedic body type (one of three doshas: pitta, vata or kapha) and gave us practice sheets to do at home or even in a chair at work. Details Three-night stay in Lenox, from $1,460; four-night stay in Tucson, from $2,700 per person, double occupancy, including meals and all scheduled classes (800-742-9000, canyon ranch.com). -- V.L.